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SERVICE: A taqueria should be efficient but not cold and impersonal. With all the folk buzzing around cleaning tables and delivering food not one was smiling or said hi, not even a nod to acknowledge I was there. Busy or not, your customers are your lifeblood and should be treated as such. A lower score is reserved for those who are down right rude.

AMBIENCE: Nothing to single out there, it is just so pedestrian. Charlie's is just south and several other taquerias just north up the street. This joint seems to have assimilated to much of the techie upscale vibe of downtown. It feels like any more and it would be a Chipotle. It hurts to say that about a joint that has been there for YEARS. The SF location feels like it should be there and always has.

APPEARANCE: This is where it started to fall apart. I will never understand why some nachos have things like onions and carrots; that other is shredded lettuce. WTF chef! I give space for those chefs that are being crafty or going upscale like Pete's Tavern but this just won't cut it. Other than that, the plate was colorful...... and it seemed like a fair amount on the plate.

TASTE: Stop the press!!!! these chips are falling apart with the slightest dig!!!! how on earth am I even going to get a taste? Well I managed as best I could and again I hate to do this but there was nothing to really get happy about. Chips crumbling, beans with no flavor, not enough cheese, and the meat was just shy of bland. When I can't bother finishing a plate then there was really an epic fail.

VALUE: This would have been a better value of the food was better and the amount slightly more. As you know, I include the overall experience in my value score and we are not even average here. I probably could have sliced off one more point but I feel so bad for Pancho Villa.

I think I will try the SF location to see if there is an improvement.

The base for a plate of nachos is the chip; it is the single most important component followed by cheese and meat. The other component is what kind of experience you can have when getting your nachos. All that said, the leadup experience to my nachos today was better than the end result.